Publicly listed companies usually take questions from industry analysts seeking more information on the company’s performance and forecasts, allowing scrutiny of its finances.

In this instance Yahoo scrapped the call “due to the pending transaction with Verizon”, on the basis that – assuming the $4.83bn sale goes through – Yahoo will cease to be an independent company by the end of the first quarter of 2017.

By cancelling the call, the company also avoided any questions over its vast data breach. Last month Yahoo revealed that half a billion customers’ email account details had been compromised two years ago, but the firm only found out this summer.

It then attracted more criticism for failing to disclose the leak to users more quickly.

Ms Mayer referred to the hack in passing in a statement praising the company’s financial performance.

"In addition to our continued efforts to strengthen our business, we are busy preparing for integration with Verizon. We remain very confident, not only in the value of our business, but also in the value Yahoo products bring to our users' lives,” she said.

“To that end, we take deep responsibility in protecting our users and the security of their information. We're working hard to retain their trust and are heartened by their continued loyalty as seen in our user engagement trends."